Linkin Park is an American rock band formed in Agoura Hills, California, in 1996. The band's current lineup consists of vocalist/rhythm guitarist/keyboardist Mike Shinoda, lead guitarist Brad Delson, DJ/turntablist Joe Hahn, bassist Dave Farrell, co-lead vocalist Emily Armstrong, and drummer Colin Brittain. The lineup for the band's first seven studio albums included lead vocalist Chester Bennington and drummer Rob Bourdon until Bennington's suicide in July 2017, which caused the band to enter an indefinite hiatus. In September 2024, Linkin Park's reformation was announced along with the addition of Armstrong and Brittain.
Nu metal is a subgenre of alternative metal that combines elements of heavy metal music with elements of other music genres such as hip hop, funk, industrial, and grunge. Nu metal rarely features guitar solos or other displays of musical technique, and emphasizes rhythm with instrumentation that is heavily syncopated. Nu metal guitarists typically use seven-string guitars that are down-tuned to produce a heavier sound. Vocal styles are often rhythmic and influenced by hip hop, and include singing, rapping, screaming and sometimes growling. DJs are occasionally featured to provide instrumentation such as sampling, turntable scratching and electronic background music. Nu metal is one of the key genres of the new wave of American heavy metal.
Korn is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, originally formed in 1993 by James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu and David Silveria, who were members of the band L.A.P.D. Their current lineup features Shaffer (guitar), Arvizu (bass), Brian "Head" Welch (guitar), Jonathan Davis (vocals), and Ray Luzier (drums), the last of whom replaced Silveria in 2007. The band is notable for pioneering and popularizing the nu metal genre.
Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by frontman Chino Moreno, lead guitarist Stephen Carpenter and drummer Abe Cunningham, with bassist Chi Cheng and keyboardist and turntablist Frank Delgado joining the line-up in 1990 and 1999, respectively. The band's experimental nature has led some critics to describe them as "the Radiohead of metal".
Alternative metal is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by heavily downtuned, mid-paced guitar riffs, a mixture of accessible melodic vocals and harsh vocals and sometimes sounds that are unconventional within other heavy metal styles. The term has been in use since the 1980s, although it came into prominence in the 1990s.
Ozzfest was an annual music festival tour of the United States and sometimes Europe and later Japan, featuring performances by many heavy metal and hard rock musical groups. It was founded by Sharon Osbourne and her husband Ozzy Osbourne, both of whom also organised each yearly tour with their son Jack Osbourne, and was held almost annually between 1996 and 2018. The Ozzfest tour featured bands of a variety of genres within heavy metal and hard rock, including alternative metal, thrash metal, industrial metal, metalcore, hardcore punk, deathcore, nu metal, death metal, post-hardcore, gothic metal and black metal. Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath played the tour several times over the years.
Mudvayne is an American heavy metal band formed in Peoria, Illinois, in 1996. Known for their sonic experimentation, face and body paint, masks and uniforms, the band has sold over five million records worldwide. The group consists of lead guitarist Greg Tribbett, drummer Matthew McDonough, lead vocalist Chad Gray, bassist Ryan Martinie and live rhythm guitarist Marcus Rafferty. The band became popular in the late-1990s Peoria underground music scene, and they found success with the single "Dig" from their debut album L.D. 50 (2000). After releasing four more albums and touring relentlessly for nearly a decade, Mudvayne went on hiatus in 2010. They reunited in 2021 and continue to perform live.
Papa Roach is an American rock band from Vacaville, California, formed in 1993. The original lineup consisted of lead vocalist Jacoby Shaddix, guitarist Jerry Horton, drummer Dave Buckner, bassist Will James, and trombonist Ben Luther.
Rock in Rio is a biennial Brazilian multi-day music festival held at City of Rock in Rio de Janeiro. It later branched into other locations such as Lisbon, Madrid and Las Vegas.
Acid Bath is an American sludge metal band from Houma, Louisiana that was active from 1991 to 1997. Regarded as one of the first and most influential sludge metal bands, they combined a doom metal foundation with elements of hardcore punk, death metal, gothic rock, blues, grunge, and Southern rock to create their unique sound. The band broke up following the death of bassist Audie Pitre in a January 1997 traffic collision, but announced a reunion in October 2024.
The Nova Rock Festival, also just Nova Rock, is an Austrian rock festival that has existed since 2005 and takes place each year in June. It is located in Burgenland, the easternmost federal state of Austria, near Nickelsdorf and the Hungarian and Slovak borders. It is organized by Nova Music Entertainment, a cooperation between Musicnet, FKP Scorpio and several former employees/bookers of Wiesen, who left Wiesen in 2004.
The Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festivals are two simultaneous rock music festivals held annually in Germany. While Rock am Ring takes place at the Nürburgring race track, Rock im Park takes place at the Zeppelinfeld in Nuremberg. Rock am Ring festival was founded by Marek Lieberberg in 1985.
The Orion Music + More was a touring music festival created by American thrash metal/heavy metal band Metallica. On February 7, 2012, the band announced plans to launch the festival, which took place at Bader Field in Atlantic City on June 23 and 24, 2012. The second installment took place at Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan, on June 8 and 9, 2013. The festival was a financial disaster, which led to its cancellation after only two installments.
Rock in Rio USA was a music festival held in Las Vegas, Nevada from May 8–9 and 15–16, 2015 at the MGM Resorts Festival Grounds on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada.
Islander is an American rock band from Greenville, South Carolina, founded in 2011. Their releases include numerous singles as well as two EPs, Side Effects of Youth (2012) and Pains. (2013), and four studio albums, Violence & Destruction (2014), Power Under Control (2016), It's Not Easy Being Human (2022), and Grammy Nominated (2024). The band is known for its uniquely dynamic and interactive live performances, as noted in various concert review publications.
Welcome to Rockville is a four-day hard rock and heavy metal music festival. The festival is held annually at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.
Sonic Temple is a hard rock and metal festival held in Columbus, Ohio, United States at the Historic Crew Stadium. The inaugural festival was held in May 2019, replacing the previously annual Rock on the Range. Sonic Temple was to return in 2020, but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which put the festival on hiatus until its return in 2023.
When We Were Young is an annual music festival currently held at the Las Vegas Festival Grounds in Winchester, Nevada. It is typically scheduled for the third weekend of October. The most recent event took place from October 19–20, 2024.
This article summarizes the events related to rock music for the year of 2025.
